Hearthstone’s next expansion is a devilish murder mystery

Hearthstone is a light-hearted, questionably canon take on some of the stories told in the greater Warcraft franchise. One of the most popular parts of the most recent Shadowlands expansion was the Venthyr, who serve as vampiric torturers to help wicked souls redeem themselves in the afterlife of Revendreth. They’re led by Sire Denathrius, a charismatic and sinister villain. It looks like we’ll be spending some more time with Denathrius and the Venthyr in the next Hearthstone expansion, Murder at Castle Nathria.

Blizzard announced the expansion today with a short trailer. It looks like the murder victim is Denathrius himself — but he’s also narrating the trailer with some jaunty rhymes, and he’s chatty for a dead guy, so he might just be a drama queen. He’s certainly the type to keep a few tricks up his sleeve, so we’ll see more about the narrative behind Murder at Castle Nathria in time. We do know that it stars a detective called Murloc Holmes and there are ten suspects from around the Shadowlands, as well as new Location cards to help with the investigation.

Every new Hearthstone expansion comes with tons of new cards and one or two new mechanics; this is the first expansion that will tread into Shadowlands content, so it’ll be interesting to see how that lore is interpreted into Blizzard’s card game.

Fans will have to wait until Aug 2 for more information on Murder at Castle Nathria, but it has some sublime vibes. If you were a fan of Denathrius, this is likely the most you’ll be able to see of him for some time, as in World of Warcraft he will likely be off-screen for some time before a possible villainous return. Players who log in to Hearthstone will recieve Prince Renethal, a Legendary minion who sets a player’s deck size and starting health to 40.